Vision Pro used in eye surgery study

Eye surgery often depends on a microscope and wall-mounted screens. At Sharp HealthCare in San Diego, doctors are now testing whether Apple Vision Pro can replace some of that display setup during cataract surgery. (beckershospitalreview.com) Sharp said on April 15 that it launched an Institutional Review Board-approved clinical study called “Evaluation of Head Mounted Spatial Computing and 3D Visualization in Ocular Microsurgery: A Feasibility and Safety Study.” The work is being done at Sharp HealthCare and Sharp Otay Lakes Ambulatory Surgery Center. (mactech.com) The study centers on cataract surgery, a procedure in which surgeons remove a clouded natural lens and replace it with an artificial one. Sharp said the trial uses a ZEISS Artevo 3D digital ophthalmic microscope and ClearSurgery’s ClearSphere app on Apple Vision Pro. (mactech.com) The basic idea is simple: instead of repeatedly looking up at separate monitors, a surgeon can keep digital images in view inside the headset. Sharp said the study will measure safety, feasibility, depth perception, workflow, and surgeon ergonomics. (beckershospitalreview.com) NBC 7 San Diego reported on April 17 that a local doctor is among the first to wear the visor during actual eye surgery as part of that clinical study. The station said the project is testing whether the device can be used safely in the operating room. (nbcsandiego.com) Sharp identified Tommy Korn as the principal investigator, as well as chief spatial computing officer at Sharp HealthCare and an ophthalmologist at Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group. Korn said the goal is to generate clinical data on how spatial computing might be used safely in surgical eye care. (mactech.com) This is not the first San Diego hospital system to bring Vision Pro into an operating room. UC San Diego Health said in September 2024 that its surgeons were the first in the nation to test spatial-computing apps on Apple Vision Pro in surgery, with patients’ consent and a conventional monitor setup available at the same time. (health.ucsd.edu) UC San Diego’s earlier work focused on minimally invasive surgery, where doctors operate using a camera inserted through small incisions and usually glance back and forth between the patient and multiple screens. The health system said surgeons may stand in procedures for 30 minutes to more than 12 hours, and the trial was evaluating both ergonomics and clinical use. (health.ucsd.edu) By October 2024, Time reported that UC San Diego surgeons had performed more than 20 minimally invasive operations while wearing Vision Pro headsets. MacRumors said the headset’s high-resolution displays let surgeons view camera feeds, scans, and vital signs without turning to separate monitors. (time.com) (macrumors.com) Apple has been pitching the device for more than entertainment. In March 2024, Apple said Vision Pro gives health app developers an “infinite canvas” that blends digital content with the physical world, and Apple has separately promoted immersive 3D 8K video with Spatial Audio as a flagship feature of the headset. (apple.com 1) (apple.com 2) For now, the Sharp study is still a feasibility and safety test, not a change in the standard of care. The question in San Diego is narrower: whether a consumer headset adapted with surgical software can hold up in one of medicine’s most exacting settings. (beckershospitalreview.com)